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Nearly 48 hours after one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history, reporters asked police Thursday for answers to a basic question: What happened when an 18-year-old man carrying a handgun showed up on Tuesday? Robb Elementary School?
Many said they came out of the press conference more confused than before.
Texas Department of Homeland Security official Victor Escalon Jr. appeared to have no basic information about the initial police response and why officers waited at least an hour before entering the classroom where the gunman he hid during the attack, which left 19 students and two teachers dead.
“Should a tactical team have entered before an hour has passed?” a journalist asked Escalon.
“There are many possibilities,” he replied. “Once we interview all these agents, what they were thinking, what they did, why they did it, the video, the residual interviews, we will have a better idea. Could anyone have gotten there sooner? You have to understand, little town. “
Another reporter asked if it was true that the parents were outside the school asking the police to come in, as has been widely reported, even asking for armored loans from the police so that they could do it themselves.
As the timeline unfolded, police criticized the response to the school massacre
Escalon hesitated once before replying, “I’ve heard this information, but we haven’t verified it yet.”
Escalon also backtracked or contradicted information that law enforcement officials had released hours earlier: No officer had confronted the gunman before entering the school, he said. He wasn’t sure if the gunman entered the school through a wide-open door. And I didn’t know how long it took the police to answer the initial 911 call – basic information at a typical police press conference.
When Escalon left, after answering 10 questions for 20 minutes, several journalists asked him to ask a question “in Spanish, please.” He seemed unresponsive, despite the large Spanish-speaking population of South Texas.
Major breaking news events, especially a chaotic incident such as a mass shooting, are often subject to conflicting reports and misinformation. However, on Thursday, reporters at the scene openly expressed their frustration at the lack of answers two full days after the tragedy.
“There are gaps and confusion around the contradictions in the information they have given us so far,” Texas Tribune journalist Reese Oxner wrote on Twitter.
“It raises more questions than answers,” correspondent Janet Shamlian said Thursday in a report for CBS News. “Parents will be very frustrated by this.”
The event was another inconvenience for Texas officials, who have struggled to answer questions about Tuesday’s attack amid a national outpouring of pain and anger. A news conference with Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Wednesday sparked screams and curses after Democratic Gov. Beto O’Rourke interrupted him to confront him. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) Escaped an interview in a vigil the same day after a journalist asked him why gun massacres were so common in the United States.
Escalon’s account left large gaps in the chronology of events, especially what happened an hour after the first police response to reports of a car accident “and a man with a gun,” and what it happened during an assault by Border Patrol agents that led to the death of the suspect.
Some observers were baffled by Escalon’s abrupt manner in delivering Thursday’s most important news report: the fact that no officer confronted the gunman before entering the school, contrary to what they had. said law enforcement officials earlier.
“Officials knew this was the key question of the day, and they should have been better prepared to answer it,” said Dave Statter, a former television journalist who now advises public safety agencies on communications issues. Police could have easily shared this news via social media or a press release before the conference.
Escalon “looked like he was flying it and was definitely not ready for prime time,” said Mark Feldstein, a veteran television journalist who is now a professor of journalism at the University of Maryland. “He asked more questions than he answered and it was long with excitement but little solid information.”
The “confusing and rambling” performance, as Feldstein described it, underscored the growing concerns and questions about the still blurred timeline. “That’s not what this city needs after so much trauma.”
“Dodging and running, dodging and hiding don’t answer questions or inspire confidence,” said Frank Sesno, a former CNN presenter and former director of George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs.